Teacher World

My heart has been touched today as I read the story and watched the videos about the life of Ben Breedlove, a teenager from Austin, Texas. In sharing this story with you, I hope your hearts will be as deeply touched as mine has by this brave, young man.

Ben Breedlove has struggled with a serious heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy all of his life. This condition causes one part of the heart to become thicker than the other parts which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood normally. Because of his condition, he has had to be more cautious than other boys; he has not been able to play sports or participate in activities that are too physical.

In spite of his limitations, Ben has had a very full life. Technically creative, he has produced two YouTube channels, “BreedloveTV” and “OurAdvice4You,” which offer relationship advice for teens and on which he would talk about his own life and interview other teens. Both were popular sites which received a lot of feedback. But recently, the sites have been deluged with tributes to Ben, who died of a heart attack on Christmas night.

A tragedy, without a doubt, but Ben’s story is not over. Ben left his family and friends and the whole world one last gift, a Christmas gift, as it were. Without anyone’s knowledge, other than his sister who he had confided in, Ben made two videos about his near-death experiences. These touching videos are poignantly simple; Ben uses note cards to tell about his disease and the three brushes with death that had left him peacefully calm about what lay ahead for him.

He told about his first brush with death when he was 4 years old. Ben remembered being wheeled on a stretcher down a hospital hallway with his mother following alongside. He wrote, “There was this big bright light above me … I couldn’t make out what it was because it was so bright. I told my mom, ‘Look at the bright light’ and pointed up. She said she didn’t see anything. There were no lights on in this hall. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. And I couldn’t help but smile. I had no worries at all, like nothing else in the world mattered. I cannot even begin to describe the peace, how peaceful it was. I will NEVER forget that feeling or that day.”

On May 3, 2009, Ben had surgery to insert a pacemaker. Then this past summer, Ben went in for a tonsillectomy and went into cardiac arrest, the second time he had “cheated death.”

On December 6, Ben suffered what he described as the third time he “cheated death.” He had passed out in a hallway at his school, and when he came to, he remembered being surrounded by EMS medics who used shock pads to revive him. When he came to again, his heart had stopped beating, but he could hear them saying, “He’s not breathing, his heart has stopped, and he has no pulse.” He admits that at this point he told himself, “This is it. I’m dying.”

He then shares a very vivid “dream or vision” that followed. In it, he said he found himself in a silent, white room with no walls that seemed to go on and on, and he felt “that same peaceful feeling I had when I was 4.”

Ben’s note cards tell the story about what he experienced, as his face registers his emotions, from thoughtful to smiling. He explained that he was in a nice suit, and his favorite rapper, Kid Cudi, was there in a suit as well, and he recalls looking in a big mirror and thinking, “Damn, we look good.” He said, “I then looked at myself in the mirror, I was proud of MYSELF, of my entire life, everything I have done. It was the BEST feeling.”

It was at this point, that Ben recalls Kid Cudi leading him to a glass table and hearing these lyrics from one of his songs: “When will the fantasy end, when will the heaven begin?” And he heard Kid Cudi tell him, “Go now.”

“I didn’t want to leave that place,” Breedlove wrote. “I wish I NEVER woke up.”

On December 18, Ben posted his two-part video titled “This is my story.” He died a week later. As of today, Part 1 of Ben’s story has received 1,222,857 hits, and Part 2 has received 842,288.

When Kid Cudi heard about Ben’s death and his video, he blogged, “I am so sad about Ben Breedlove. I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down…This has really touched my heart in a way I can’t describe; this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really f—ed up sometimes, but I know Ben is at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad. We love you Ben. Forever. Thank you for loving me. To Ben’s family, you raised a real hero, he’s definitely mine. You have my love.”

Pam Kohler, a close friend of the Breedlove family, said, “It was obvious to all of us that knew him that he knew what he was doing when he made that video. There are times that [the family is] overwhelmed by the pain and the loss of Ben, but then it’s replaced with knowing that he was at peace with what was going to happen.”

“Because of the experiences he’d had, he was ready and he was prepared. He really wanted to know that peace again. He was facing more hospital stays and he was tired of it,” Kohler said. “He wanted [his family] to know that he wasn’t scared and was looking forward to returning to that place.”

What a priceless gift this brave, young man gave to his grieving family and friends! In spite of the sadness you feel when you watch his videos you can’t help but feel joy. Ben’s message fills us all with peace and hope, leaving us with little doubt that he knew death was close, but he wanted us all to know that he was not at all afraid to face it.

Ben’s last two cards end like a sweet, poignant prayer, “Do you believe in angels or God?”

“I do.”

Bless you, Ben. I believe!

Teacher-World's Blog Ben Breedlove, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, YouTube

It seems that some colleges and universities are looking to revamp their traditional recruiting strategies in the hopes of increasing their enrollment. It should come as no surprise that these innovative schools are using technology in new ways to draw potential students.

Most universities and colleges are still using the traditional approach to recruiting: Sending out recruitment mailers to interested students who either signed up through college fairs or online to receive information, and then wait for them to come for a standard tour and opportunity to ask questions. While these schools have debated pumping up their program to draw more students, concerns that the failure of a new campaign might cause a decrease in applications has caused them to be cautious about making significant changes.

Monica Inzer, dean of admissions at Hamilton College in New York, explains it this way, “I think you can get so caught up in trying to be different or unusual that it could backfire on you. There’s something safe, too, about being one of the pack.”

In spite of this more traditional mindset, some schools are taking the risk in order to supplement-or buck-the current trend. And for five of these schools, technology and social media is their avenue to connect with interested students. Let me tell you about these five schools and the innovative techniques they are now using.

At Hamilton College, they are using QR codes to reach out to new students. A QR code, short for Quick Response code, is a barcode that sends users quickly to a Web address through the use of Smartphone cameras.

At Hamilton, they created their fall admissions poster to feature only a giant QR code, which sends visitors to a customized welcome page for the school. This poster has generated approximately 1,200 visits to the website to date. And its purpose was to get away from the normal purpose of admissions posters, which is to have a prettier campus picture than other colleges.

Inzer said, “The beauty of this campus is one of its selling points. [But] there was only an upside with this. If people are talking about this [poster] and trying to figure out how to access the page, that’s exactly what we want.”

Ohio Wesleyan University has locked on to video chats as an opportunity to interact with many prospective students who are unable to make multiple trips to the school because it is too far from their home. Video chats have allowed them to meet with these students no matter where they are located.

The university hosts four or five group video chats, during the academic year, for both students and their parents. Rebecca Eckstein, vice president for enrollment said, “It gives students and parents a feel for who we are and what we have to offer.”

Each of the chats revolves around a different theme, ranging from the application and enrollment process to current students who share stories about their experiences studying abroad. And the response has been very favorable. In fact, Eckstein noted that 220 of the 260 prospective students who participated in these video chats last year applied to the university, and 92 were enrolled.

Misericordia University in Pennsylvania has had problems since its establishment in 1924, getting a lot of attention, so they turned to Facebook in order to get noticed. In order to reach out to freshmen and prospective students alike, this school offered university bookstore gift certificates as prizes to any incoming freshmen who were willing to replace their profile picture on Facebook with the picture of the university logo.

There were roughly 370 incoming freshmen, and of these, 63 students participated during this two-week summer contest. And the university created a friend profile on Facebook instead of a fan page, in order to better engage with individual students. In this way, they were able to track the contest since students “friend” the university on Facebook, which gave Misericordia access to their public posts.

Jim Roberts, director of marketing communications, said, “The fact that we could monitor the conversations that their friends were having about the [profile pictures] really made us think that the contest was successful.”

Cory Chandler, marketing supervisor for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Texas Tech University, said that traditional recruiting involves one-sided conversations. “In the past, there was no other option than to rely [only] on printed materials.”

So to add some depth to traditional printed materials, this college utilized Twitter to cover a photo shoot for a story that was part of their annual recruiting mailer. Then they Tweeted updates using a hashtag and shared the photos and videos taken at the shoot, chronicling a student lab on campus that had been recently named one of the country’s “Most Awesome College Labs” by Popular Mechanics.

Chandler explained, “We wanted to bring kids in to what is going on behind the scenes [in recruitment]. Almost making it an event, as opposed to just a piece of mail.”

Finally, the New School in New York City created a series of recruiting videos, entitled “Are You New School?” These videos, hosted on YouTube, are not your traditional college recruitment videos promoting what is best about the school and claiming that students can make the featured campus feel like home.

Cory Meyer, director of admission communications, said, “We’re not trying to be everything to everyone, and that’s going to turn some students off–and we’re kind of OK with that.”

Instead, these New School videos feature students’ voices talking about topics that are usually not heard on recruitment videos. These honest, uncensored clips deal with a variety of issues from the school’s dating scene to students who are intimidated by New York City. But Meyers says it is that very honesty that separates their videos from those of other colleges and universities.

“Obviously, the New School is a little bit more progressive and out there than some of your more traditional institutions,” he acknowledges. “So I doubt a lot of schools would have videos with students cursing in them … but, ultimately, we don’t want to hide who we are.”

So, there you have it; five schools offering some pretty innovative techniques for incorporating technology into the humdrum job of recruiting. Maybe one of these is right up your alley if you are in the process of looking for your future college or university.

Higher education, Teacher-World's Blog Facebook, Hamilton College, Higher education, Misericordia University, New School, Ohio Wesleyan University, QR codes, Texas Tech University, Twitter, video chats, YouTube

Okay, are you ready for this one? Meet Trevor Moran, a twelve-year old boy from Temecula, California, with an interesting hobby. He dances to some of his favorite songs, not at home or with his friends, but in Apple stores.

Two years ago, Trevor embarked on his outrageously fun career: Apple store dancing. His method is pretty simple. He scouts out an Apple computer in a store that has a good view of both the inside of the store and its customers. He opens YouTube, selects a song, starts the webcam, and goes to town. When his performance is done, he uploads it to his YouTube channel “iTr3vor.”

The videos have gone viral. In fact, his most popular one, “Apple Store Dance To Check It Out!!” has been viewed more than 1.3 million times. But, there’s no way you could make a name for yourself through such a crazy hobby, right?

Wrong! Trevor has been featured on “Inside Edition” and in the Wall Street Journal. And his interview with CNN is coming out next week. “It’s easy to get an audience,” Trevor said. “Kids say they want to be famous, and they don’t know how to do it. I went on the Internet.”

When Trevor told his mom, Nicole, what he was up to, she was mad at him. She said that it was rude for him to go into a store and dance around. But Trevor was persistent, and finally wore her down.

Nicole admits that in the beginning she didn’t want anything to do with what he was doing. She would wait in the car until he was done. Eventually, she began to soften as she realized that at the Temecula Apple Store, not only were they not making him leave, but they loved him. (Imagine the free publicity for the store, for Pete’s sake!)

It is a riot to watch the reaction or non-reaction of the people who are shopping in the store while Trevor does his thing. Some people don’t respond at all, or at least try not to, while others are clearly amused and trying to figure out what is going on. Occasionally, a store employee joins in.

Trevor says he sometimes brings friends along but they are usually too embarrassed to dance.

All in all, it is just silly, senseless fun, thanks to a boy who isn’t afraid to be silly and crazy and just himself. “I’m not embarrassed,” Trevor said. “I love dancing in public.”

So far, Trevor has danced at Apple Stores in New York, Mission Viejo, San Diego, and his hometown, Temecula. He receives $100 a month from YouTube because they place ads on his videos since they are so popular. And, even though he has all of the equipment he needs at his fingertips in the Apple store, he still spends most of the money he earns on video equipment from, guess where? Yes, his local Apple Store!

What are Trevor’s future plans? It will come as no surprise that he wants to be an entertainer, and he already has a manager.

This is one boy we will be seeing a lot of in the future. Enjoy his videos, and check out his YouTube channel.

Teacher-World's Blog Apple Store dancing, Trevor Moran, YouTube

This is a sad follow-up on Will Norton, the young, recently-graduated boy from Joplin, Missouri, who has been missing since Sunday night when he was sucked through the sunroof of his car.

I discovered this morning that Will had a YouTube channel which was very popular. In fact, it has received more than 1.5 million views. I spent some time getting to know him through his videos, and was blown away by this talented, gregarious, creative, young man. What a joyful spirit! This is a young man who clearly lived life to the fullest.

Which makes the news out of Joplin this morning even harder to take. Sadly, reports indicate that Will has finally been found, but that he is another victim of this terrible tornado. My heart grieves for this boy, who was clearly so very special, and had his whole life ahead of him. And I grieve for this family, who had such hope, as did many of us, that they would find him alive.

His Aunt Tracey posted this message on his Facebook page last night: “Everyone, tonight is a sad night for us. I’m sorry to tell you that Will was found but he was not alive. We are grieving deeply. It brightens our lives to know that even in his passing he touched lives. We will write more soon but tonight we will mourn as a family. Please pray for Mark, Trish and Sara as well as my parents. God bless you all. Please pray for those still lost and hurting. Aunt Tracey”

I send my deepest regrets to this family, and to so many others who are going through such desperate times. God bless, and know that our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Teacher-World's Blog Joplin, Missouri, Will Norton, YouTube

I am going to tell you a story about an eighth-grader in Connecticut who decided to speak out, in a very personal way, about bullying. It’s a story which has created quite a stir. It’s a story which, I believe, could change how we address the issue of bullying.

Alye Pollack attends Bedford Middle School in Westport, Connecticut. She told WTNH news, an ABC affiliate, that she used to be a confident person until sixth grade when she became the target of relentless, daily teasing and bullying. She told reporters that she has been subjected to vile name-calling every day, names like whore, slut, lesbo, bitch, fat, freak, ugly, fag…

Alye is in eighth grade now, and she admits that she is depressed and has considered cutting herself because of the daily harassment she faces in her school. But she decided instead to take a positive step; to speak out, to be brave, and to tell people how bullying has impacted her.

Alye decided to make a video that would share her feelings with anyone willing to listen. She kept her video very simple. She never speaks, but holds hand-made signs written in crayon to get her message across, a message which could not be more poignant if it had been professionally done. The heart-felt words coupled with her sad, pensive expression speak volumes. It only lasts about 3 minutes, but they are 3 minutes guaranteed to both break your heart and make you want to do exactly what she begs for on one of her signs: “HELP!”

About 2 weeks ago, Alye first informed the website of the Westport Patch, her hometown newspaper of her plan and then posted her video on YouTube expecting that maybe 200 people might see it at the most, but to her surprise, as of April 1, the video has been watched more than 280,000 times!

The outpouring of support for this brave girl seems to be giving her some hope. In her interview, she said, “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘I know not to say bad things. I think before I say something. And that’s just amazing, because they actually are being affected by my video.”

And the students at her school are not alone. Many have commented and sent videos in response to YouTube as well. In fact, Erika, a college student, told about her experience with bullying and encouraged Alye to email her if she needed to talk to someone. And for the first time in a long time, Alye is smiling again.

Something new and hopeful is happening in our world where bullying is concerned. Children are starting to stand up and be heard, and the Internet is helping to spread their message and their cry for help and support. Think about some of my recent blogs: Casey Heynes, who stood up to his bully in Australia, LaNiyaha Bailey, the little 6-year old who wrote a book about bullying with her mother’s help, and now Alye, the creator of this powerful video. And there are so many more.

What is even more encouraging is the outpouring of encouragement and support these victims have received. They have taken a risk by taking a stand against bullying and refusing to be silent anymore, and their efforts are being so well-received, both publicly and within their own communities, that it just might begin the healing process.

Maybe other victims witnessing the response these children have received will become bolder and more willing to speak up, too. Imagine if victims began to unite through their shared experiences, offering each other support and empathy. And imagine if all of those children out there, who are not victims but hate what bullies do, were to become more proactive in their own schools to confront bullying when they see it; to stop bullying within their own sphere of influence. 

Can you see it? It is such a simple solution, a child-inspired solution. But it is striking a chord with children; it is creating a response because it is giving them a voice. Maybe those of us who teach need to find more creative and kid-inspired ways to give our children a voice so that they are more likely to speak up when they need to, either on their own behalf or someone else’s.

The status quo is not working. Bullying is on the rise. If the message needs to be heard by kids, shouldn’t it come from kids? I think it is worth a try, don’t you?

Bullying, Teacher-World's Blog Alye Pollack, Bullying, cutting, YouTube

I feel compelled tonight to write a follow-up blog about the young Australian boy, Casey Heynes, who stood up to an even younger bully, Ritchard Gale. There have been some interesting interviews which either shed new light on what really happened that day or perhaps, are an attempt to muddy the water a bit.

First of all, in an interview with Casey Heynes, the 15-year old who has become an overnight hero as a result of the often watched YouTube video of his encounter with Ritchard, he revealed that he has been bullied and harassed for years because of his weight. He admitted to feeling lonely and sad, and said that on that fateful day, he had just had enough and he “snapped”.

Casey said that ever since he can remember, “he’s been picked on, put down, bashed, and tormented.” He said that when he went to high school, he had eight friends, but they left him and the real teasing began; the tripping, hitting, being hit with water balloons, and so on, happened practically every day. The worst, he said, was when he was duck taped to a pole after his eyes were taped so he couldn’t see.

Casey claims that Ritchard had been slapping him and harassing him about his weight for about two weeks prior to the much-watched attack. The attack, according to Casey, was a complete surprise; suddenly Ritchard ambushed him and you can hear in the video that Ritchard’s friends were cheering him on.

His father, Collin, admitted that he had had no idea what Casey had been dealing with until he saw the video, and he admits to being unsure what his appropriate reaction should be to what he saw. He said that it wasn’t anything to be proud of, but, on the other hand, he was glad that Casey had finally stood up for himself. He told the reporter, “It’s already changed his demeanor and self-esteem. I can see he’s standing a lot straighter; a lot more proud, which is very good for him.”

The interview ended with this message from Casey to other children out there who are victimized by bullies: “Look for the good days. Keep your chin up. School ain’t going to last forever.”

The second interview was with Ritchard and his father, and I will admit to being a little disturbed after watching this one. In the initial reports that came out after the attack, witnesses and people interviewed all said that Casey has been the victim of bullying for a long time and has never been in trouble for fighting. He has been described as a quiet boy. Casey himself admits that he has been a loner, making him an easy target.

On the other hand, Ritchard was characterized as a notorious bully. Early reports indicated that this was definitely not the first time he had harassed another student. And it certainly looks as though this altercation between Ritchard and Casey was planned or why would someone be conveniently taking a cell phone video at the time? It has all the earmarks of being a set-up to later post on-line in an attempt to further humiliate Casey.

But suddenly, in this interview, Ritchard, who has become the target of some pretty awful on-line responses, is portraying himself as the victim, claiming that Casey started it by talking trash to him and hitting him first. He claims that the cell phone video missed what happened first, and that Casey is the bully who started the whole thing, and that he, Ritchard, was the one who got mad and fought back.

I’m sorry, but it seems circumspect to me and a little too convenient to suddenly turn this whole story around. Don’t you suppose we would have heard this much earlier if it were truly the case?

At one point in the interview, the reporter asks Ritchard if he is sorry for what he did. His immediate response is no, until he obviously turns to where his dad is sitting off-camera and gets the message that his response was not appropriate, at which point, he quickly changes his answer to yes. The reporter states the obvious, that Ritchard is conveying what his dad wants him to, and asks him to be honest and answer the question. Amazingly, he confesses that he isn’t sorry because it wasn’t his fault. He proceeds to disclose the fact that he also has been bullied, which may actually be true, as this is such a common scenario; victims of bullying becoming the bullies. But I do not believe that he was bullied by Casey.

Ritchard’s father is obviously, and legitimately worried for his son. He expressed his concern over the terrible things that have been said about him on the Internet, and admits that he is afraid of what might happen to him. But he should be even more worried after this interview. This was the perfect opportunity for Ritchard to come clean; to admit his poor choices and ask forgiveness. His attitude from the start was smug, and at no point did I get any sense of remorse.

It is unfortunate that Ritchard did not take this opportunity to make amends by taking responsibility for his actions and publicly asking Casey for his forgiveness. Some of what has been posted about this boy on the Internet is completely over the top! No matter what he did, he doesn’t deserve some of the outrageously hateful things that have been said. My fear is that this interview will fan the fire, which is already burning hot against this boy.

I must apologize for the teacher in me who is always looking for what we learned from our experiences. It seems to me that Casey has learned to stand up for himself, and I think the public support from all around the world will make him stronger and an excellent role model for others, like himself, who are facing bullying.

As for Ritchard, it is difficult to determine what lesson he has learned, other than that age-old lesson of making excuses and passing the buck. Neither will make him very likeable in the future or very popular.

Bullying, Teacher-World's Blog Australia, Bullying, Casey Heynes, Ritchard Gale, YouTube